All About Connected Cars, Smart Home Controls, Gesture Based Sensors and Big Data Processing

The Internet of Things has become less of a concept and more of a reality in 2014 as more and more things are connected to the Internet to improve user experience and to create new opportunities for technology to integrate into peoples’ lives.

To keep up with the trends of the Internet of Things, you don’t have to scour the Internet for the latest news: we’ve done all the legwork for you. Here’s what you need to know about IoT this week:

1) Switch Off Living Room Lights With Your TV?

Samsung is working on transforming the television into a smart home hub. The smart home control interface will use your smart TV to recognize basic hand gestures that will control the objects of your home.

Samsung is talking with a startup company called VTouch, short for virtual touch, that creates gesture control software. VTouch claims that with this new software solution there will be no need for remote controls anymore- users will be able to control their TVs and nearby objects with their fingers.

2) M2M Applications: Are Connected Cars the New Smartphones?

This article discusses one of the most anticipated connected objects- the car. Ford Motor Company demonstrated a wirelessly connected smart car at Mobile World Congress. The features of this new technology include 360-degree views of the area around the vehicle, sensors to scan for other vehicles, pedestrians and objects, and smart cruise control to avoid accidents. The smart car will be equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology, creating a future of connected cars who can communicate with one another and the world around them creating a better, safer driving experience.

Consumers are expecting a lot from their technology, anticipating that their cars and other objects like watches will soon be as smart and connected as their phones. The article shares the prediction that more than 50% of vehicles sold worldwide in 2015 will be connected in some way, either by embedded, tethered or smartphone integration.

The article quotes President of Ford, Stephen Odell, who says, “Cars are the smartphones of the future. There are many untapped opportunities for mobile to play a role in advanced automated driving.”

The strides of mobile technology in the past few years has left us with little doubt that technologies will evolve to create a completely new relationship between drivers and their cars, causing dramatic changes in the way we drive.

3) Why the internet of things is big data’s latest killer app — if you do it right

This article features a sensor-network company called Synapse Wireless who is working on an intelligent sensor system and cloud platform for many different industries. It is designed to trigger events in real time and to handle data processing and analysis however and whenever it needs to happen, across a variety of applications. The article points out that there is “gold in the mountains of data we generate” and being able to analyze the data we get from being connected is an incredible opportunity.

One use case out of fifty that the company has identified in the health care industry alone is the need for hand washing reminders. Synapse works like a real-time monitor, reminding people to wash their hands with sensor communication between the nurses name badge and the soap dispenser.

Takeaways:

These articles focus on the opportunity for collecting and analyzing data that comes from an increase in connected and sensor controlled devices and “things”. Connected objects like cars will change the way we drive, increasing safety and improving user experience. Gesture control software poses a unique opportunity for Smart TVs to act as a hub for controlling other household items with simple hand gestures. Synapse technology is a unique way to connect “things” and trigger events in real time. The Internet of Things is a rising trend and soon consumers will expect many of their objects to be as smart as their mobile phones.